Last updated October 2026
This page starts with playground markings for Cornish schools, then covers courts and pitches. A layout is priced at survey from your yard plan. To give a sense of scale, a four-way hopscotch kit costs £353.21 ex VAT to buy before anyone lays it, and one parish’s quote to reline a games court was £600 for each sport. Our playground markings page shows designs, and the national bands sit on the costs page .
Who gives planning permission in Cornwall?
Cornwall Council, for the whole county, because it is a single unitary council. For markings or a resurface on an existing yard, check with the council if you are unsure whether consent applies. A new fenced court, floodlights or a pitch need it, and almost a third of Cornwall lies in the Cornwall National Landscape, split across 12 sections, where the expectation is that development is landscape-led. A floodlit court near the coast path will be judged on how it looks from a distance, so lights and fence colour are priced as separate options. See our planning guide.
Is any of Cornwall in the Green Belt?
No. Cornwall is not among the 16 Green Belt areas in the 2024 to 2025 government statistics, so the Green Belt openness test does not apply here; landscape designation is the bigger planning factor.
Does Cornwall need more 3G pitches?
Yes, by about six full-size pitches on the 2019 count. Cornwall’s Local Football Facility Plan (September 2019) found 14 full-size 3G pitches and four small-sided sites against demand for 22, a shortfall of seven, which it treats as six because of the Wadebridge project. It names 11 3G priority projects, eight full-size and three small-sided, as well as 35 grass pitch sites and 33 changing room projects. The Football Foundation has since published a 2025 version of the plan, so check your site against that before bidding; a school or club on the current list has a better route to a grant. See artificial pitches.
Is a new playing pitch strategy coming?
One has been commissioned. Cornwall Council engaged consultants to prepare a new county-wide playing pitch strategy, with clubs surveyed from late 2023, to set out current and future needs and protect existing pitches through planning. If you are planning a pitch, court or pavilion, ask the council whether your site appears in it, because the strategy’s priorities shape both planning decisions and grant support.
Our school has a worn MUGA. Should we reline or resurface?
Reline if the surface is sound, resurface if it is breaking up or holding water. Fresh lines on a failing surface will not last. Real council quotes for a 713 m2 MUGA came to about £36 per m2 for a new porous macadam layer in 2025, so a small school court costs a fraction of a new build. Our MUGA page covers both.
Can markings be laid in a wet Cornish season?
Only on a dry, clean surface, so dates are set around the forecast with a back-up day agreed in advance. A small layout often fits a half term; a whole yard is safer in the long summer break.
How it works
- 01Send a plan and photosThe site, the surface and the date it must reopen.
- 02We check the groundLevels and where the water drains.
- 03Written quoteBuilt around your reopening date.
Sources
- Cornwall National Landscape, read Oct 2026
- Football Foundation, Cornwall Local Football Facility Plan, Sept 2019
- Cornwall FA, Cornwall playing pitch strategy, Oct 2023
- MHCLG, local authority Green Belt statistics 2024 to 2025, Oct 2025
- StartSafety, four-way hopscotch marking, Oct 2026
- Wickham Parish Council, MUGA resurfacing and relining quotes, Feb 2025
We also want courts for tennis or netball. Where do we start?
With the base. A tennis or netball court needs a level, free-draining macadam or polymeric surface, and the lines come last. Our tennis courts page gives build and resurfacing costs.
Our yard doubles as the village’s only hard court. Does that change the design?
Yes. Many Cornish primary schools share their yard with evening clubs or village events, so the layout may need adult-size netball or five-a-side lines alongside children’s games, in colours that do not clash. Tell us who else uses the space and when. If the community use is formal, the lines and any future resurfacing may also count towards a grant bid, and the council’s new pitch strategy is the place to check whether your site is listed. Photos taken from each corner of the yard, its rough size and the width of the gate are enough for a first price.
Who runs a Cornwall job?
For a Cornwall job we arrange a vetted local surfacing contractor, and we confirm who within 2 working days, or tell you if we can’t. Alex Winser keeps the job moving as your one point of contact, and you see the contractor’s name on the written quote before you agree to anything.